Texas Accident Statistics

Texas Accident Statistics

Houston, Texas Auto Accident Attorney

The Texas Department of Transportation maintains in excess of 79,000 miles of interstate highways, the moast roadway in the entire United States. Consider this just accounts for highways and does not include major boulevards, avenues, backstreets and other throroughfares. In addition to the vast amount of road in Texas, the state boasts a total population of 26,956,958 according to the 2014 US Census, only second to California’s ~ 39 Million. With a huge population and so much ground to cover, accidents and fatalaties are inevitable, in 2014 alone, 237,941 people were injured in car accidents. On all the roads in the state including major city streets there were 3,189 fatal accidents resulting in a total of 3,534 deaths.

Where are the accidents happening?

Overall, in 2014 there was a total of 476,875 documented motor vehicle accidents in the state of Texas In Harris County alone, there were 101,699 crashes, with 382 total fatalities. The majority of accidents in the state are occuring in counties with major metropolitan area’s such as Bexar County (San Antonio), Dallas County (Dallas), El Paso County (El Paso), Harris County (Houston) , Tarrant County (Fort Worth) and Travis County (Austin). For a detailed breakdown of collisions in all 254 counties In the state, visit the Crashes and Injuries by County chart the Department Of Transportation has provided.
As far as the type of passage the accidents are happening on, the statistics point to the fact that there is a direct correlation between the type of road or system (Rural vs. Urban) and the Rate of Crashes per 100 million vehicle miles.

Highways

The highest frequency of accidents occurred on “Farm-to-Market” routes with 120.66 Crashes/100 Million vehicle miles in Rural areas and 232.45 Crashes/100 Million vehicle miles in Urban Areas. The rates of crashes were 2nd highest on State Highways, 3rd Highest on US Highways and Lowest on Interstates. For each system, the rate of crashes per 100 million vehicles was approximately double in urban areas.

Roads

On Roads , the amount of Crashes was highest on those with 4 or more undivided lanes, with 104.03 Crashes/ 100 million vehicle miles on Rural Roads and 292.97 crashes/100 million vehicles miles on Urban Roads. 2 Lane , 2 Way roads had 97.3 crashes/100 million vehicle miles in rural areas and 190.62 crashes/100 million vehicle crashes in urban areas. 4 Lane divided roads had the lowest overall rate compared to the other road types, mean while the crashes still occurred at twice the rate in urban areas to rural areas.

What are the factors causing accidents?

There are a wide range of factors that contribute to accidents in the state of Texas. Certain factors cause accidents at higher rates in urban areas, which can be attributed to more vehicles in direct vicinity as well as more pedestrians and infrastructure nearby. Additionally, traffic conditions in urban areas can influence a drivers behavior negatively when they make faulty evasive manuevers or try to expedite their commute by breaking the law, disregarding dividers or not using signals. Statewide the top 10 factors that caused accidents in 2014 were:

Failure to control speed – 125,126

Driver Inattention – 91,833

Failure to stay in single lane- 32,937

Unsafe lane change- 29,571

Failure to yield while making left turn- 28,713

Other- 26,428

Unsafe Speed- 23,955

Followed Too Closely- 23,850

Failure to yield at a stop sign- 23,807

Faulty evasive action- 22,878

In most cases there are numerous factors which could cause an accident, unsafe speed can result in blowing a stop sign just as driver inattention could. Driving under the influence can cause someone to fall asleep at the wheel just as a legitimate medical condition could. In some cases there is a sole factor. All the factors listed above relate to the actions of the driver. Light and Weather conditions also affect accidents to a great degree.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, were injured as a pedestrian or had property damage cause by a car accident, contact The Salazar Law Firm, PLLC who have extensive experience dealing with accidents of varying severity. It is extremely important to have proper representation and guidance throughout this stressful process to maximize the compensation you receive for your losses, whether bodily injury or financial.
You can read more about accidents on our website: visit our car accidents or truck accidentspages.